(Baihe county, Shaanxi—July 18, 2012) Local authorities in Shaanxi province targeting a house church in Baihe county have confiscated from the home of a woman believer government-published Bibles purchased from an official“Three Self” church.

The Chengguan house church has long been under government persecution, and it is currently facing a new round of suppression from the local police department, which has been threatening the church and telling church members not to invite any rights defense lawyers.

In the most recent incident, five county government officials barged into the home of Xia Changzhi on July 13 at about 10 a.m and forcibly removed five boxes of Bibles. Three of the officials were from the Baihe county Culture, Radio and Television Bureau, and the other two from the county Commerce and Industry Bureau. The names of two of the officials were Qin Rengui and Li Liang.

On July 16, Ms. Xia was summoned by police for questioning. She was questioned by Yan Longhe of the Domestic Security Protection Section, who accused the house church of engaging in piracy even though it had bought the Bibles from a government-approved Three-Self church. He said that Ms. Xia and the church were engaged in unlicensed book-buying. The Bibles were confiscated by the Culture, Radio and Television Bureau, who said that since this was an act of piracy, fines would be imposed and the church’s pastor, surnamed Liu, would also be investigated to find out who was the consigner of the goods.

The main perpetrators in this incident were:

Li Yongliang, head of the Law Enforcement Team of the Baihe county Culture, Radio and Television Bureau

ChinaAid condemns the Baihe county government for its illegal attacks on this house church and urges them to return the legally published Bibles quickly and respect the rights of citizens to freedom of religion.

"Bob Fu has dedicated his life to bringing freedom of religion to the Chinese people. His story is a testimony to the power of faith and an inspiration to people struggling to break free from oppression." —Mrs. Laura Bush